The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-26
THREE STORIES BYA POET.
James Whitcomb Riley Tells the Anecdotes
That Suggested Poems to His Muse.


That Suggested Poems to His Muse
| New York sun.
Did you ever hear about the man who got
| OFF at the wrong stationP
| The questioner was James Whiscomb Riley,
| the poet. who recently took the cake, SO Co
| speak, at the authors readings. He was dining
| with an Evening Sun man, who had known and
traded yarns with him. To- these many years.
! The deal was never equable, for no one tell
| story better than Mr.. Riley. The listener had
never heard about the man that disem barked at
the wrong station, and Mr.. Riley told the stir
ring tale as follows:
1T happened out in Indiana on one OF those
railroads that 60 across lots in deviating man
ner as if il wanted to take in every bodys farm.
farmer took one of the accommodation trains
on this road once upon time. He had been in
town to lay in some supplies. On the seat be-
side him were several packages of groceries.
On the floor near him sat other necessaries OF
life, including sack of salt and big demijo John
full of the concentrated essence Of rye and riot
BUSINESS. He had stuffed an old attenuated car
pet-bag in the rack over his head.
''In order to give his blue stockinged feet
room and rest he had taken off his cowhide.
clay -befrescoed boots and sci them alon gside
the demijohn. He dude in appearance.
His jean trousers seemed TO have decided TO
hold aioof from his feet, and mis- equally brief
coat sleeve held aloof from his wrists in a
naughty manner. He had thrown back his
head in restful slumber. superinduced by too
liberal hbations He had aggressive breath.
One of those breatns into which you can put
wick and make it burn-one of those exhala-
tons due to too liberal lbations, which suggests
the thought that it has died and will not keep
until the friends be summoned from afar to
give it a decent burial
His mouth was open. and the capillary
growth about the base of his long neck pro-
jected out from under the collar oe his hickory
shirt as sort of sample of the underbrush that
adorned his manly bosom. AS the train logged
along and came near station the conductor ap-
preached the sleeper shook him and said: Hey,
this is your stationr The farmer started up 10
anervous manner. and made a frantic effort to
pull on his boots They did not with
81 1Iz1
when the train stopped at the station. The
farmer made one last but futile endeavor to pull
on the other boot, but as the train began to
move he seized it in one hand, and strove with
the other to pull the carpet-bag down from its
perch It took some time to dislodge it.
FINALLY he got IL, and with one boot and the
carpet-bag in one hand and the demijohn in
another. he dashed out on the platform of the
car and made flying jump He landed in
violent manner in sand-bank, and ploughed
up the earth with his nose. The cork flew out
of the demijohn. and its contents moistened the
vlTs'n soil in Wastsf man %s The boot fell
back to the seat that he had occupied, seized his
groceries. and kindly threw them out. He
sowed sugar, tea, salt and other articles broad
cast along the track for mile The conductor,
who meant well, looked back and saw the
farmer in the dim. muddy distance.
He had regained erect attitude, and was
standing in the sand bank gazing in dazed
manner after the receding train. The conductor
walked down through the aisle of the car to see
II there were any more groceries belonging to
the farmer, and his eye fell Oh the check which
had been on the unfortunate mans person
indication OF his point of destination. As the
conductor examined it. he started back agasht
and then exclaimed; Gosh. that man got off
at the wrong station after allf
Mr.. Riley. who was dining at Italian
taurant, bit the end off one of those crowbars of
bread that are served in those caravarsaries
while his listeners begged him to emit another
story. He finally consented to tell this combin-
alton of humor and pathos:
II was wandering up one of the principal
Law
when met rugged old farmer from the inte-
rior whe seemed to have lost his way. As he
wandered aimlessly along, I approached him
and asked: DO you enjoy the exercises OF the
dayP WALL so. So, he answered, but l amt
here for fun. L come up TO go to the buryin-
ground upon there the hill My boys buried
mp there. He was in the army, you know He
had TO lie about his age to git in. but
the angels'l forgive him that one lie.
other soldiers tell about it. Wall, be
went into the battle of the Wilderness an got
wounded awful. They telegraphed to me. an
went right down. He wanted 70 be took home,
an 1 fetched him. On the wayup he grew
worse, an he said to me that if he could live to
get home an see his ma he would be satisfied.
till l got him home. His ma tried to muse
him back to life, but he KEEP on runpin' down
He called me up to his bed one night bout sun
down an said. sez he Pa. l wanter to he bur
led up in town tmeanin' here in Inganapolis,
an want you to keep my grave green
Here the old farmer wiped the tears from his
cheeks with his brown hand and then brought it
down my shoulder in a determined manner
and exclaimed: An. mister, I'm agoiu' TO keep |
that grave green if have to paint it,
One of the most affecting stories that Mr.. |
Riley tells is that which gave him the inspira- |
ton for his pathetic poem. "Cause I've Got |
Curvature o the Spine" 1t voices the boastful,
cherry sentiments of a little deformed child, |
who glories in his deformity. and whose only /
fear is that his aunty will not know him when |
she gets to heaven, where he is, because there, |
as she has told him, he will be erect and free |
from deformity like the other angels.
Tine idea for that poem," said Mr.. Riley,
suggested by rough rugged man that | met
one day in my tours had been lecturing in a |
little interior town, and had to get up at day |
light one cold morning to ride to the nearest |
railway sation. The man who drove me |
was one of those rugged characters that you |
who deem sentiment weakness, aud tears
something to be ashamed of. AS we rode along
over the creaking snow he said; II hearn you
talk last night I remarked: Indeed! 1 hope
you enjoyed it. Yes said he, fust rate.
My little girl was there. She likes that sort
O. thing She's great po'try. You may hsv
seen her. She sat on the front row. She's
little girl. not very tall. You must a noticed
her. told him that I did not recall having
seen her: and be continued: She amt very big.
She don't weigh noren fifty pounds. You see,
she's got curvture o. the spine. Her mother
died when she little thing, an havin' no
one TO look out fer her as q mother can. she fell
down stairs ole day an hurt herself. She never
got over it l hev took care O. her the best
know how, but she's growed. Some
times 1 think she'll never be no bigger The
tears swelled to his eyes as he talked E.e
ashamed to show the evidence of his grief and
turned aside his head Seeing that was look
ing at him and had discovered his emotion, be
one of the heavy leather mittens that he wore
and said: Il dunno what's the matter with my
eyes. One O. my bosses is lame, an put some
iniment on his legs this morning. l must a
GOT some of it on this yer mit.en o mine"
THE IDAHO HORSE QUEEN.